January 31, 2012
"The gospel, applied to our hearts every day, frees us to be brutally honest with ourselves and with God. The assurance of His total forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Christ means we don't have to play defensive games anymore. We don't have to rationalize and excuse our sins. We can say we told a lie instead of saying we exaggerated a bit. We can admit an unforgiving spirit instead of continuing to blame our parents for our emotional distress. We can call sin exactly what it is, regardless of how ugly and shameful it may be, because we know that Jesus bore that sin in His body on the cross. With the assurance of total forgiveness through Christ, we have no reason to hide from our sins anymore."...
January 6, 2012
I'm at a season of life where it seems like it's time to slow down. Nothing is working quite right anymore. I need glasses for aging eyes and anti-inflammtories for aging joints. I forget names and what commonly used household gadgets are called. Solitude invites me to steal away (which I enjoy doing at times!) while a growing family and new church lovingly require me to get even busier than ever. The commercials say Benny and I should be anticipating retirement after all the years of being in the throes of parenting and pastoring. Sometimes I envy those who can....
September 3, 2014 by Eric Garrett | Category: Evangelism | Tags: Redeemer Church, Lake Nona Church, lake Nona, evangelism, bible, gospel, Orlando Church, Lake Nona Churches, Scripture, mission, Eric Garrett, lee vista, lee vista church, redeemerchurch, redeemer, the gospel, redeemer blog, steps to disciple making, discipling, making disciples, kingdom of God, evangelize, church blog
Like my good friend Alex Thermenos, you may have thought that last week's post was the final post in this series on making disciples. Now this is understandable. I mean, after touching base with the lost, talking to them, enjoying meals with them at your dinner table, teaching them how the gospel relates to their lives, tying them into the fellowship of the church, and cal...
Keep ReadingAugust 29, 2014 by Eric Garrett | Category: Evangelism | Tags: Redeemer Church, Lake Nona Church, blog, lake Nona, evangelism, bible, Lake Nona Churches, Scripture, mission, Eric Garrett, lee vista, Judgment, lee vista church, redeemerchurch, redeemer, lakenonachurch, redeemer blog, steps to disciple making, discipling, making disciples, Gospel-centeredness, church blog
This is what making disciples of Jesus all boils down to. In fact, there is a real sense in which this is the only absolutely necessary step in the process to making disciples. Everything about this process hinges on whether or not our lost friends, family members, co-workers, and neighbors, by God's sovereign grace, place their trust in Jesus, and Jesus alone, for their p...
Keep ReadingAugust 20, 2014 by Eric Garrett | Category: Evangelism | Tags: Redeemer Church, Lake Nona Church, lake Nona, evangelism, bible, gospel, Lake Nona Churches, Community, Eric Garrett, lee vista, lee vista church, redeemerchurch, redeemer, lakenonachurch, redeemer blog, steps to disciple making, making disciples
In reading last week's post, some of you may have wondered how by yourself you could ever teach your lost friends, family members, neighbors, and coworkers "all" that Jesus has commanded us (see Matt. 28:18-20). If that was you, there's good news: you don't have to do this alone. In fact, you shouldn't. The wonderful truth about our witness to the lost is that it is a comm...
Keep ReadingAugust 6, 2014 by Eric Garrett | Category: Evangelism | Tags: Fellowship, Lake Nona Church, blog, food, lake Nona, bible, gospel, Lake Nona Churches, mission, lee vista, outreach, lee vista church, lakenonachurch, steps to disciple making, making disciples
Who would you invite into your home for dinner? Perhaps more significantly, who would you not invite over for dinner? If we're honest, most of us probably have some real restrictions on who makes it to our dinner table. It's one thing to have people come over for a large event, it's another thing to have a few people over for the game, but we tend to reserve our dinner tab...
Keep ReadingJuly 24, 2014 by Eric Garrett | Category: Evangelism | Tags: Redeemer Church, Lake Nona Church, lake Nona, evangelism, bible, gospel, Lake Nona Churches, redeemerchurch, redeemer, lakenonachurch, redeemer blog, steps to disciple making
Last week, I introduced a seven-step approach to making disciples that I believe can serve as a helpful, step-by-step way for us to follow Jesus in fulfilling his Great Commission. By way of reminder, here is the basic approach....
Keep ReadingJuly 16, 2014 | 1 Comments by Eric Garrett | Category: Evangelism | Tags: Redeemer Church, Lake Nona Church, lake Nona, evangelism, gospel, Lake Nona Churches, Eric Garrett, lee vista, lee vista church, redeemerchurch, redeemer, lakenonachurch, redeemer blog, steps to disciple making, discipling, making disciples
If you've been with us at Redeemer Church for a bit, you may have heard us use the term "disciple-making disciple" as a way to encapsulate what we believe is our role as followers of Jesus in our God-created, fallen, yet redeemed and soon to be restored world. As I've explained elsewhere, as we seek to follow Jesus in his mission of redemption for the world, we are to draw...
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